


Drops of Blood

by ksvfanfic



Series: Castle of Memories [2]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie) Spoilers, Canon Compliant, Dating, Established Relationship, F/M, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Long-Distance Relationship, POV Alternating, POV Third Person, Post-Captain America: Civil War (Movie), Sequel, The Ex-Avengers Go on Missions, Unhappy Ending, Unlucky Thirteen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-01
Updated: 2018-06-01
Packaged: 2019-05-16 23:10:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,916
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14820707
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ksvfanfic/pseuds/ksvfanfic
Summary: After the events ofCastle of Memories, Wanda and Natasha must leave Edinburgh and travel the world with Steve and Sam. Vision returns to the compound, but on various weekends, he gets the chance to meet up with Wanda again.*A three-chapter, canon compliant sequel toCastle of Memories, with alternating sections featuring Vision and Wanda.*





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> My thoughts about how _Castle of Memories_ could be more _Infinity War_ -compliant combined with my thoughts about this year's ScarletVision Day [theme](https://kirabauthor.tumblr.com/post/173845284610/scarlet-vision-appreciation-day-svad2018) to create this: a short sequel to _Castle of Memories_. Happy ScarletVision Day, friends!

The morning after Vision and Wanda’s fight and subsequent make-up, Vision goes into the kitchen to make some tea for Wanda and some coffee for Natasha. He hums to himself as he prepares syrinki and sets the breakfast table. While his attempt at paprikash may not have been satisfactory, he’s proven himself able with a skillet. 

Wanda comes out just as Vision places the finished syrinki on the table next to a bowl of fruit. She smiles and walks over to wrap her arms around his waist. “Smells really good, Vizh.”

Vision kisses her on the forehead.

As Wanda pulls back, looking at the table, she frowns. “Where’s Natasha?”

Barely a beat later, the front door opens, and high heels clack into the apartment.

Vision frowns. He hadn’t realized Natasha was still out.

“It’s a little early,” Wanda notes as Natasha comes into the dining room. “Or a little late, maybe. You’re not usually out before breakfast.”

Natasha slides into her chair without smiling. “I have to talk to you two.” She picks up the coffee cup in front of her plate and takes a sip. “Thanks, Vision.”

Exchanging looks, Wanda and Vision take their own seats at the table.

“What is it?” Wanda, too, takes a sip of her tea.

“We need to leave.” Natasha runs her finger over the side of the empty plate in front of her. “I’ve talked to Sam and Steve. They’re waiting for me and Wanda at the next safehouse.”

Wanda stares at her. Vision stares at Wanda.

"What?" Wanda asks.

Natasha sits back in her chair and sighs, finally making eye contact with them both. "Let me give you a little backstory, okay?”

Wanda nods. Natasha takes a deep breath and begins to speak.

“When I found you and the others in Wakanda, before I talked to anyone else, I talked to Steve. He told me all about how you were finishing high school.” Natasha shakes her head. “We didn't want to take that away from you. You were enjoying it so much. But without a stable life, you wouldn’t have been able to keep up, even with an online program. So we decided you and I would come here, to Edinburgh, and try to stay long enough for you to finish.”

Wanda blinks, her brow creased. “Okay…”

“While we’ve been here, I’ve been running interference,” Natasha says. “I _do_ have a waitressing job at that restaurant we went to, but a lot of the time I’ve spent outside the apartment, I’ve been…” She hesitates as if uncertain what to say.

“…doing spy stuff,” Wanda finishes for her.

Natasha nods. “Keeping the U.N. off our backs. One of the reasons Steve chose me to stay with you was because he thought I could do that. Another was that I have enough money stored up to pay for rent for a while, even without my job.”

“And what if someone did find you here?” Vision asks, his own brow furrowed. Wanda glances at him, then back to Natasha.

“Steve trusted me to protect her,” Natasha tells Vision. “I know how to get out of sticky situations without drawing a lot of attention. Plus, we have a few safehouses in the British Isles, and for the entire six months we’ve been here, either Steve or Sam has been in one of them.”

Vision nods. “But now Wanda’s finished her education.”

Natasha returns the nod. “And it’s time to go.”

“What— _why_?” Wanda’s face is pale, her mouth slightly open. Vision takes her hand, and she squeezes his once without looking away from Natasha. 

Natasha’s expression softens. “We have to keep moving,” she tells her. “It’s only been a year since the Accords came out. By some…” She shakes her head again. “… _miracle_ , I’ve been able to keep us hidden this long, but one of the people I’ve been watching is closing in. We need to leave. Tonight, ideally.”

Wanda opens her mouth, but only choking noises come out.

Vision blinks rapidly. During his last conversation with Mr. Stark and Colonel Rhodes, he had indicated to them that he might be leaving the compound to live elsewhere—to live with _Wanda_ , though he hadn’t told them that. Now his plan to ask her and Natasha if he could move in is undone.

 _It was too early anyway,_ he admonishes himself. _We’ve only just begun our relationship as romantic partners._

Natasha turns her gaze from Wanda to Vision. “I know it’s not my business, but I really don’t want this to break up your relationship. I think you can make this work, if you want it enough. Steve’s hoping to keep the four of us together, moving around to different locations and… well, working together the way the Avengers used to.” Natasha shrugs and offers Vision a half-smile. “There’s still a lot of bad people out there, and I’m sure the current Avengers team could use the help.”

Vision tilts his head to the side, nodding. He can’t deny that he, Colonel Rhodes, and Mr. Stark have been struggling to accomplish anything near what the Avengers used to do.

“You’ll have to take your moments where you can,” Natasha continues, “here and there, whenever you can both get away. I’ll do what I can to help.” Natasha presses her lips together. “You’re a good guy, Vision. If you weren’t so easy to recognize, I’d invite you to come with us.”

The last sentence seems to break something open in Wanda. A sob rips from her chest through the air. Struggling to get the words out through ragged breaths, Wanda says, “Why didn’t you tell me this wasn’t permanent?”

The strain in her voice, the way it breaks across the syllables, revealing traces of the Sokovian accent that has faded across the years, sears through Vision’s heart. Wanda’s squeezing his hand like the only thing in the world she has left to hold on to. He lifts their hands to kiss her knuckles, hoping to comfort her, but all her attention is on Natasha.

Natasha looks down at the table, biting her lip. "You were so… happy. I didn’t want to ruin that. I guess I... just wanted you to have what I never did.” She lifts her head to make eye contact. “A normal life. If you’d known we were leaving, it wouldn’t have been the same."

The first tear trails down Wanda’s cheek. “It wasn’t fair of you not to tell me.”

Natasha’s voice is barely audible. “I’m sorry.”

In a sudden flurry of movement, Wanda rises to her feet and rushes from the room, leaving Vision’s hand tingling from the sudden absence of her grip.

Vision’s first instinct is to follow Wanda, but he swallows it down. He still has more he needs to know from Natasha.

“How do you intend for Wanda and I to communicate, so that we can plan our meetings?” he asks.

Natasha looks more distressed than Vision has ever seen her, but she blinks and meets his gaze. “I uploaded the same messenger app that’s on my phone to hers. It’s connected into your system, so only you can see the messages…” 

“Ah.” Vision thinks back to when Wanda first sent him the Edinburgh coordinates. ”How did you manage that?” 

Natasha shakes her head. ”It wasn’t me. I’m not that smart.” A faint smile crosses her lips, but it fades quickly. “The Wakandan princess, Shuri, is a genius with technology. I asked her to help me out, and we used some information I’d stolen from Tony’s servers to make the connection.”

“Ah.” Vision nods, rising to his feet, and Natasha’s shoulders slump it what seems to be sudden, intense relief. “I’ll go speak with Wanda now,” he says.

“Thank you,” Natasha whispers.

\---

As she sits alone on her unmade bed, a couple of stray tears slip down Wanda’s cheeks. She wipes them away impatiently, then hugs herself, rocking slowly back and forth.

Though Wanda understands Natasha’s intentions, she can’t help but feel betrayed. She’s always known that Natasha was secretive, but to have one of those secrets affect her own life so much—to know that Natasha was _keeping_ this from her for months—it hurts.

Wanda can’t regret the past six months. She’s grown so much since she and Natasha moved into this apartment. And she’s been so happy. Perhaps Natasha is right, and it wouldn’t have been the same if Wanda had known the truth. But to have this life taken away from her so abruptly makes her feel like the ground has fallen out underneath her.

There’s a knock at the door—Vision, remembering finally what the door is for. “Wanda?” he calls softly.

She uses her powers to turn the knob, letting him in. He walks softly over to the bed and stands over her, concern on his face. As she looks at him, tears rise back into her eyes.

She doesn’t want to let this go.

“I don’t want to leave,” she says, and it turns into a sob as she reaches out for Vision. He climbs into the bed beside her and holds her as she presses her face into his chest. “I like it here. And I—” She chokes on another sob, unable to speak the words to express her sorrow. Instead she reaches up and puts her hand on Vision’s cheek. _I’ll miss you,_ she thinks, projecting it towards his mind.

He turns his head to press his lips against her palm. “I understand,” he says, and she lets her hand drop. “I’ll miss you too.”

A laugh tears out of Wanda’s chest. “I can’t—” She breaks off, once again unable to speak for the tears threatening to fall.

“I love you, Wanda,” Vision whispers, and he kisses the top of her head. “That won’t change simply because of the distance between us.”

The tears spring free, and her fingers tighten in the fabric of his sweater.

“We’ll still meet up,” Vision tells her, rubbing her back. “Just as Natasha says. She’s placed an app on your phone that will allow you to communicate with me safely. We’ll talk to each other as much as you want, and when we have a chance, we’ll slip out and meet each other.” His hands come up to grasp Wanda’s face, and she pulls back enough to let him look at her. “I don’t care how far away you are,” he says. “I’ll come.”

Another tear slips down Wanda’s cheek, but now she’s smiling. “I love you,” she says.

He smiles, relief softening his eyes, and lets his hands drop from her face. “It’ll be like having a normal relationship.”

She raises her eyebrows, weaving her fingers through his. “A ‘normal’ relationship?”

Vision nods, his eyes alight with the eager earnestness that always appears on his face when he talks about the intricacies of human life. “Most couples do not live together before they begin their romantic relationship, and very few share a bed before then. We’ve had an unusual beginning. But now, our courtship will be more traditional. We’ll meet up and have dates.” He shakes his head. “Unfortunately, I cannot take you ‘out,’ but I have a salary from the United Nations now that the Avengers is under their management. I can pay for a hotel room, and we’ll stay there together, and when our time is up, we’ll part until we can meet again.”

“All of that sounds good, except the parting,” Wanda whispers with a small smile. Then her lower lip trembles. “Do you think it will work?”

“Is not the purpose of dating to decide whether or not a relationship works?” Vision pushes her hair back behind her ear. “I love you, in every way I possibly can. You love me. We can do this, together.”

Wanda lets out a small laugh. “The whole problem is that we won’t be together.” But she shakes her head before he can say anything else. “I know. You’re right.”

She leans forward to kiss him on the mouth, slow and deep. When she pulls back, Vision is all but beaming. It makes her smile.

“Let’s go eat those delicious syrinki,” she says.

After breakfast, they spend the day packing up the apartment. Natasha isn’t sure whether they’ll be able to take all their belongings, but they organize it all anyway, room by room. Slowly, all the pieces of the life Wanda and Natasha built here disappear into stacks of cardboard boxes.

“I’ve paid the rent,” Natasha says as the two women pack up the bathroom, “and I already gave the landlord notice that we’re leaving today. So we should be set.”

“Are you saying that you told the _landlord_ before you told me?” Wanda asks, her tone dripping with sarcasm.

Natasha falls silent for a beat. “I really am sorry.”

Wanda sighs. “I know,” she says. “I know why you didn’t tell me. I’m still upset about it, and I probably will be for a while. But I do understand.”

Natasha relaxes just slightly, nodding in acknowledgment.

Then Vision phases into the bathtub behind them. “Do you want the spices packed alphabetically or should I just pack them as they are?” he asks.

Startling each other, Natasha and Wanda both laugh.


	2. Chapter 2

After an emotional goodbye, Vision makes his way up to the roof. As he rises into the dark sky, he watches Wanda and Natasha on the street below him, dragging their luggage towards a waiting taxi.

 _Until the next time,_ he thinks.

The journey back to the compound is dreary and worry-ridden. Vision left things open enough when he left the compound that he can easily rejoin the Avengers in their work, but how he should explain himself to his teammates, he doesn’t know. He goes over it in his head again and again as the hours pass.

When he arrives in New York, it’s dark and starry out. He phases through the wide windows into the living room, carefully to stay quiet in case Colonel Rhodes is asleep. Mr. Stark is in the kitchen, pouring himself a cup of coffee.

“Isn’t it a bit late for that?” Vision asks.

“Vision!” Mr. Stark turns and takes a few quick steps towards him, as though intending to pull him into a hug, before stopping suddenly. “I thought you were leaving for good.”

“I was thinking about it,” Vision corrects. “But after some more travel, and due consideration, I’ve realized that I’m not yet ready to… go it alone.”

Mr. Stark’s eyes crinkle into a smile. He swirls the cup of coffee in his hand, apparently not quite sure what to say.

“Colonel Rhodes said some things before I left that made me think,” Vision tells him. “For one, I still have a duty to the world, to humanity, that may better be served here with the Avengers. I still want to protect those who are in need. For another, until I can… show myself in public without attracting notice, I’m unlikely to be able to create a true, independent life for myself.”

Mr. Stark nods. “You can’t just… ‘magic’ yourself a normal people costume?” He wiggles his fingers.

Vision blinks. “Ah. Well, I suppose it would be a simple matter to change the color of my skin, but as for the rest… Hair, in particular, seems a difficult task. I’ve always struggled to alter the area around my head.”

Mr. Stark nods again. “Maybe someday, then. But not yet?”

Vision tilts his head. After a second of thought, he realizes that the questioning tone of Mr. Stark’s voice means Mr. Stark is in fact confirming Vision’s intention to stay here with the official Avengers team.

“No, not yet,” Vision agrees.

Mr. Stark’s shoulders slump with relief. “Good.” Taking another swig of coffee, he says, “I’ve got some work to do downstairs. You gonna be fine up here?”

Vision nods. As Mr. Stark whistles his way downstairs, Vision phases up into Wanda’s old room. The more time that has passed without her here, the less it’s come to feel like hers, and yet all the detritus of her life with the Avengers remains. Since the Accords, Vision has spent most of his time here, reading and listening to music and waiting for the next bright moment—a request for aid or a visit to Wanda—to come.

Hesitantly, he walks into the adjoining restroom and turns on the light.

“ _Magic yourself a normal people costume_ ,” he thinks.

Looking at himself in the mirror, he does a simple molecular restructuring that changes the color of his skin. As the light peach shade he chose fades in, he focuses on the grey metal sections he can see in the mirror. Slowly he transforms cold metal to living skin. Already he’s struggling to hold onto the alterations across his head.

_Now for the hard part._

He starts with eyelashes, forming them one by one. He blinks a few times, surprised at the weight of them. Then he tries eyebrows, choosing blond without even thinking about it. As soon as he’s created both, though, he loses hold of the changes.

He looks at his burgundy-skinned, metal-lined, hairless self in the mirror and sighs. But having seen the possibility beginning to blossom once, he’s not ready to let it go. So he continues to practice throughout the night. Then, at 2am, golden letters suddenly appear across his eyesight.

_“Vizh?”_

He straightens. _Wanda._ It takes him fifteen whole seconds to figure out how to send her a message back. _“Wanda, are you all right?”_

_“Yes. We’re with Sam and Steve at a new place.” ___

Vision breathes a sigh of relief. _“I would be happy to hear all about it.”_

Across the next month, Vision messages with Wanda every day, sometimes for hours on end. Colonel Rhodes’ return to duty has slightly increased the amount of messages the current Avengers lineup receives, but even when they have a mission, Vision is usually consigned to video analysis, radio backup, and other menial tasks. So he practices transforming his appearance, he researches dating practices, and he reads more books.

He hadn’t thought about it much before, but soon Vision notices that Mr. Stark and Colonel Rhodes each disappear from the compound for a few days here and there, without assignment and often on a weekend. When he mentions this to Colonel Rhodes, the Colonel smiles.

“It’s called a social life, Vision,” he says. “Like you said, we're not on duty all the time. We’re allowed to do our own thing sometimes. Just not for _weeks_ at a time.” The Colonel nudges Vision in a friendly way.

“Unless it’s a vacation,” Vision states uncertainly.

Colonel Rhodes nods. “Unless it’s a vacation. Every once in a while, we get those. You have to keep checking in, though, and the U.N. doesn't grant them too often. Luckily, on weekends, when we’re not out on a mission, we can do what we want.”

Vision nods.

After a brief silence, Colonel Rhodes shifts his weight between his feet and sighs. “Look, Vision, while we’re talking, I wanted to apologize.”

Vision looks at him, surprised. “Apologize?”

“Before you left, I said some stuff. And even though you did decide to stay here, I feel bad about it.” Colonel Rhodes puts his hand on Vision’s shoulder. “I get a little overprotective of Tony, being his best friend, but you’re my friend too. You should be allowed to make decisions for yourself. If you want to go and make a life for yourself, I won’t get in your way.”

“Oh.” Vision blinks. “Thank you. However, I do want to stay here for the time being.”

Colonel Rhodes nods and pats his shoulder once before letting his hand fall. “All right. Thanks.”

\---

_“Wanda, I’ve discovered that I could easily leave the compound for a weekend without drawing attention.”_

Wanda blinks at her phone. _“Which weekend?”_

As always, the reply comes back quickly. _“Any. Mr. Stark and Colonel Rhodes leave the compound on weekends quite frequently, for the purposes of socializing. I see no reason why I couldn’t do the same.”_

A huge smile spreads across Wanda’s face as she reads the words.

“What’s up?” Wanda looks up to see Sam standing across the room, munching on a cracker. “You got this crazy happy grin all of a sudden.”

She ducks her head, still smiling. “Vizh says that he can meet me any weekend I want!”

“Oooh.” Sam purses his lips teasingly. “’Vizh,’ huh?”

She grabs the pillow next to her on the couch and throws it at him, using her powers to make sure it hits him in the face. “Shut up.”

“Yeah, yeah. Well, why not tell him to come this weekend?” Sam shrugs. “It’s not like we’ve got a lot going on. We’ve been staking out the same guy practically since we got here.”

Beaming, Wanda messages Vision. _“This weekend.”_

It takes Vision longer than usual this time to answer, and Wanda lets out a quiet laugh as she imagines him, shocked and stammering. _“I would love to visit you this weekend. Are you sure that’s possible?”_

 _“It was Sam’s idea,”_ Wanda says. _“The stakeout hasn’t gotten anywhere, so we’re not busy.”_ She takes a moment to consider their location. _“Meet you in Hostomel’ Friday night?”_

There’s another long pause before Vision answers. _“Our best chance seems to be a hotel in northern Bucha. Additionally, I’m afraid the earliest I can make it is Saturday morning. But I’ll make reservations so you can check in Friday night. Will that do?”_

Wanda sends her affirmation, and Vision sets to work. As she returns to the book she was reading, Wanda is unable to suppress the smile that lingers on her face.

But things go south on Friday evening. The human trafficker Steve’s team had been watching suddenly decides to move out of the city, taking proof of his operations and a number of victims with him. The ex-Avengers are forced to step in sooner than expected.

Wanda stops the van, holding it in place while Steve drags the trafficker out and restrains him with handcuffs and rope. The trafficker’s companion, another man lower down in the ring, tries to slip out the other side, but Wanda transfers her attention to him, lifting him over the van and setting him down, none too gently, beside Steve.

Sam’s voice comes cracking over their radios. “Guys, there’s a second van over here! It’s heading the other way, and there are more people inside.”

Having secured the two men from the first van, Steve puts his hand to his ear. “Sam, keep following that van! Natasha, are you finished securing their original hideout?”

“Not quite.” Natasha grunts. “Give me a minute.”

“Wanda.” Steve turns to her, his movements full of urgency. “Follow Sam’s directions. Stop that van. Natasha, when you’re done, come help me transfer these people where they belong.”

Wanda’s already in the air, catching the attention of many of the street-goers below as she moves to Sam’s location. The second van’s taken a lot of turns to try and throw off its pursuers, but Sam’s remained on target. As Wanda lands in front of the van, stopping it hard enough to throw everyone inside forward, he lets out a grateful whoop. Slamming on the brakes of their own vehicle, he tumbles out and goes after the driver, who’s now trying to escape on foot.

Once he’s detained, Wanda walks over to the van, opens the back, and peers inside. A small group of frightened, dirty children of various ages are chained together there. One of them screams and ducks down, babbling in a language Wanda doesn’t understand.

Holding a single hand forward, she says, “Don’t worry. You’re safe now.” Using one of the few Ukranian words she’s learned for this purpose, Wanda repeats, “Blahopluchnyy.”

The children just frown at her.

Steve’s voice comes over the coms. “Sam, Wanda, you need to hurry it up! The police are on their way. Is everything secure?”

Sure enough, the distant sound of sirens wails through the air. Wanda turns, meaning to tell Steve that they’ve caught the second van. At that exact moment, the girl who screamed leaps forward, dragging some of the others, protesting, along with her, and swipes at Wanda with a sharp piece of glass. She catches Wanda’s upper left arm. The glass cuts through the leather of her costume and leaves a long and jagged wound.

Wanda yelps as the other children scream and pull the girl back towards them, berating her with high-pitched, fearful voices. Sam calls out, “You all right, Wanda?”

“Yes, I’m fine.” She brings her arm close to examine the wound and then lets it fall back, wincing at the sting, which grows ever hotter as the blood trickles down her arm. “Let’s get back to Steve and Natasha, quickly.”

“Don’t be scared,” Wanda tells the children one more time, and then she shuts the back door of the van. She and Sam clamber into their car and speed back towards Steve’s location, taking the shorter route this time. Once together, they head to the empty lot where the jet is parked, set to invisible mode thanks to the Wakandans’ help.

Inside the jet, they change out of their Avengers costumes and into new clothes.

“That was a goddamn mess.” Natasha strips off her boots and lets them fall to the metal floor with a loud clang.

“At least we got the name of the guy at the top,” Steve says. “And we left the police all the evidence they’ll need to prosecute those three and a handful more.”

“But we didn’t actually get the guy,” Natasha retorts. “And now we have to get out of the country, and you know _damn_ well that some of those police officers are in on the operation.”

“That’s why I kept copies.” Steve takes a thumb drive out of one of his pockets and waves it in front of her. “If you can set up a secure email address, I’ll send the files directly to their supervisors. We’ll make sure this case goes through.”

“But those women—”

Their argument is interrupted by Wanda’s curse as she rubs an alcohol wipe over the cut on her arm.

“You okay?” Wanda looks up to find Steve, and the other two, staring at her.

“Oh.” She sighs and moves her arm enough to give them just a glimpse. “One of the victims had a sharp piece of glass. She must have been holding onto it, just in case. She was just a little girl, but she was scared.”

“That might need stitches,” Natasha says, moving forward.

“I don’t think so.” Wanda uses a second wipe, trying to mop up the extra blood. “It’s not deep, just long.”

Steve’s jaw clenches as he moves into the cockpit. “Are you still planning to meet Vision?” he calls back to her.

Wanda rolls her eyes, but she can’t help but smile at his concern. “Yes.”

“In Bucha?” Natasha checks. When Wanda nods, she shakes her head. “I don’t like that. After tonight, everyone in this area’s going to be on alert. I want you out of this part of Europe as soon as possible.”

“It won’t be for long,” Wanda tells her as the jet’s engines start up. “Just a weekend, and I’ll be indoors with Vision the entire time. They’re looking for you three, too, and if I’m not with you, they won’t be as likely to recognize me.”

Natasha’s lips thin. “I still don’t like it. Dye your hair as soon as you get to the hotel.”

From his seat across the plane, Sam throws Wanda a box of dye, this one a dark brown edging on black. Wanda catches it and rolls her eyes again.

“All right.”

“Stay close.” Natasha steps forward to point a finger in Wanda’s face. “And check in. We’ll wait for you in the jet, while Steve gets to work on those files. It’s not what I’d prefer, but it’ll have to do.”

Wanda nods wearily. ”Okay.”

“What about that cut?” Sam gestures towards Wanda’s arm.

“It’ll be fine.” Wanda takes a gauze wrap out of the first aid kit in her lap and starts unrolling it. “And if anything goes wrong, Vision will take care of me.”


	3. Chapter 3

By the time Vision arrives in Europe, the sun is starting to rise. He shifts his molecules, much as he’s been practicing, but this time taking on simple transparency by mimicking the colors of the sky above him. It’s a much easier task than trying to take on a human appearance, and though it’s not perfect, he’s able to avoid being spotted on his way into Ukraine.

Trusting that Wanda is already waiting for him, he phases through the outside wall into the hotel room he reserved and paid for via a complex series of bank routings. He finds Wanda sitting on the double bed, eating fruit while perusing something on her phone. Her hair is now a dark shade of brown, but in every other way she’s perfectly recognizable. The instant Vision phases in, she jumps to her feet and runs to embrace him—but only using one arm.

Giving her a quick kiss, he pulls back to look at her left arm, which she’s holding strangely. It takes only a millisecond for him to recognize the blood-soaked bandages and what they mean.

“You’re injured.” He pushes her gently back to the bed and climbs up beside her. “What happened?”

“The trafficker we were watching decided to move last night, so we had to step in,” Wanda explains. “One of the victims they had with them—a little girl—she had a piece of glass and she cut me with it.”

Vision stares at her, horrified. “ _Why?_ ”

Wanda meets his gaze, her eyes bright and wide, and lets out a little laugh. “She was _scared_ , Vizh. Who knows what she’d been through before this, and then to have another group of strangers show up? She didn’t know me. She had no reason to trust me.”

Though humbled by this explanation, Vision still feels some anger. He swallows it down, and it comes to rest like a bitter pit in his stomach. “Your bandages need changing,” he says. “May I?”

Wanda nods and indicates towards the bathroom door at the front of the room. Walking very carefully over, taking deep breaths to calm himself, Vision gathers up the remaining gauze from the first aid kit lying open on the counter. He also grabs a few wipes and some antibiotic ointment.

As he turns to leave, he notices a single drop of bright red blood congealing on the countertop. He stares at it, feeling his temperature and heart rate rise—once again, anger, but stemming, he realizes, from fear. Not wanting to waste any of the alcohol wipes, Vision wets some toilet paper and uses it to wipe up the blood.

Then he returns to the main room.

“Did you clean up the injury before you wrapped it?” he asks as he unwinds the gauze on her arm. “Did you apply antibiotic ointment? Are all your immunizations up to date?”

Wanda laughs. “Yes, no, and as far as I know, yes.” She catches his hand with her free one and tangles their fingers together. “Relax, Vizh. I’m all right.”

As the last of the gauze comes off, Vision examines the wound. He’s relieved to find that it’s not deep and is no longer bleeding. “The glass could carry any number of diseases. Antibiotic ointment is an important measure to take.”

Wanda watches him steadily, a faint wince crossing her face as he uses one of the alcohol wipes on her arm.

“I can’t believe the others would let you leave in this condition,” he mutters.

“They didn’t want me to, but I told them you would take care of me. _Vizh._ ” She lets go of his hand and touches his cheek, insistent upon his attention.

For the first time, Vision makes proper eye contact with her. As they gaze into each other’s eyes, the strain bleeds out of Vision’s muscles, and the anxiety dissipates, leaving only pure, warm affection. He gives her a faint smile.

“I apologize,” he says. “I… somewhat overreacted. I simply… hate to see you injured.”

Wanda leans forward and gives him a slow, lingering kiss. When she pulls back, she’s smiling. “I love you, too.”

Vision takes her hand from his cheek and kisses her fingertips.

They finish dressing Wanda’s wound and then settle in to watch some TV together, their heads close together as they whisper about anything and everything. Vision can’t stop looking at her, drinking in her face, her movements, her words. When night falls, they slip into each other’s minds, and Vision watches her sleep, his heart full to bursting.

They part early Monday morning, Vision urging Wanda to stay safe and to continue attending her wound. Wanda tells him to message her as soon as he’s back in New York.

“An inauspicious beginning to our dating relationship, perhaps,” Vision says, pushing her hair back behind her ear, “what with your injury, but I’ve enjoyed it. I look forward to our next date.”

Wanda laughs, though her lip trembles, and pulls him back in for one last kiss.

\---

Their second date happens in late July; their third in early September.

During this time, Vision and Rhodes have a discussion about the Accords in which Vision tells him all about the Raft. Once he's confirmed the information, Rhodes reacts with uncharacteristic emotionality. For the next week, he researches the Raft and the legal issues surrounding it while giving Stark and Vision both the cold shoulder. Wanda tells an anxious Vision to give Rhodes the space he needs to process everything. It takes a little while, but soon Rhodes forgives them for not telling him about the Raft earlier. Vision then tells Wanda that Rhodes has become a lot more distant with General Ross, but the current Avengers team continues their work where it’s requested.

Meanwhile, Steve, Natasha, Sam, and Wanda are moving around the globe completing fugitive missions of various types. Some take longer than others. On the whole, Wanda’s getting a better picture of what the world looks like, and a lot of it saddens her. But she knows what it’s like to have a hard, war-torn life. She knows that the world is not kind.

On their fourth date, after their initial hello, Vision gets up from the bed and turns to face Wanda.

“I want to show you something,” he says.

When Wanda nods, he closes his eyes and _transforms_ , his skin turning from burgundy-and-silver to pale peach, blond hair sprouting over his head as the Mind Gem vanishes. In an instant, he becomes a regular human man.

Shocked, Wanda stares at him.

He opens his eyes and, seeing her expression, starts stammering. “Do you not like it? I—I—I can try a different look if you prefer. A darker skin tone, a different hair color. Whatever you want.”

“No, I…” Wanda stands up and comes over to him. She strokes his chest, then his cheek. Though it takes some adjustment, she recognizes him beneath the façade. His bone structure, his facial expressions, his gentle eyes—and underneath it all, the soul that she fell in love with. “I like this fine. I like you no matter how you look. I just like the way you _usually_ look the best.”

“I—I—” Vision ducks his head. “Thank you.” After a breath, he makes eye contact again. “Since we left Edinburgh, I’ve been working on this… human disguise. This way, we don’t have to be so clandestine. We can go out, explore the city. Like a normal couple.”

Wanda smiles. “You’re always talking about being normal. But I like our strangeness.” Getting on her tiptoes, she whispers in his ear, “Now take it off.”

Vision looks at her with surprise that quickly morphs into hunger. He steps forward, pushing her back, as their lips meet, and they fall into the bed again.

A little while later, Wanda breaks from their embrace and asks, “So, what exactly did you want to do with your new costume?”

Vision beams. “I thought we could go see a movie!”

Wanda blinks at him. “Vision,” she says. “We could do that here, alone together, and I would enjoy it so much more.”

“Oh.” Vision’s face falls. “Well… another common date idea is dinner." Wanda starts to sit up, and Vision quickly adds, "I _would_ like to start trying different tastes, so I can experience that aspect of life, but in large amounts…” He shakes his head, his hands dropping to the comforter. “I've discussed it with Dr. Cho, and so far as we can theorize, I'll only be able to absorb some of the molecules from the food into my own system. The rest would not be compatible, leaving me with a large amount of waste to phase out. It would be larger than my body has ever dealt with before. I'm not sure how it would turn out. I might end up leaving a... a pile of food waste the next time I phase through something."

Wanda feels her lips twitching into a smile. _What a romantic topic._

"Perhaps you could phase through a toilet," she suggests.

"A fair proposal," Vision admits, and Wanda can't help but let out a laugh. "Yet it still doesn't seem right. There are those in the world who are starving, and I have no physical need to eat.”

Touched by his thoughtfulness, Wanda runs her fingers over the furrow in Vision's brow. It smooths as he looks at her.

“Why don’t we go for a walk?” she says. “Maybe we can pick up some food for me on the way, and you can try just a little once we come back here.”

Vision smiles, his face inches from Wanda’s. As she returns the smile, he takes her hand from his brow and brings it to his lips, never breaking eye contact. It's a familiar gesture now, but it still sends heat into the pit of Wanda's stomach.

“I’d like that,” Vision says.

So they go for a walk, and Vision tries his first food: a bite from a rellenito. He finds the sweet taste both wonderful and somewhat overwhelming. His expression makes Wanda laugh. She also gets herself a spiced mango, but decides not to give Vision a taste until he’s a little more used to the experience.

For the rest of the year they continue in that way—having weekend dates with walks, food, and plenty of kisses. During their seventh date, which falls on Wanda’s birthday, Vision makes her dinner complete with dessert, draws her a bubble bath, and gives her a massage. After much deliberation, he got her a simple silver ring for a present, since she can’t carry much with her. She loves it. They spend most of Sunday in bed.

The weekend before Valentine’s Day is a similarly intricate affair. They manage another date in March.

Shortly afterwards, Vision messages Wanda saying that he's started feeling a sharp pain in his forehead where the Mind Gem lies.

 _"Additionally, I can feel a consciousness partly my own, and yet not, reaching out to me,"_ he tells her. _"It's difficult to describe."_

Worried, Wanda replies, _"You should have someone check to make sure you're okay. Stark, maybe?"_

But after consulting with Stark and Dr. Cho, and running a series of system scans himself, Vision still has no answer. The feeling comes and goes throughout April and May.

In the middle of June, Wanda messages Vision to let him know that she and the others will be in the British Isles soon.

 _“Why don’t we meet up in Edinburgh?”_ she says, her heart thundering in her chest. _“It’ll be our anniversary, after all, and I’m close.”_

The message comes in a blink. _“That sounds wonderful. I’ll make our reservations now.”_

Beaming, Wanda puts her phone down and does her best to pay attention to the latest mission briefing from Steve and Natasha. When it’s time to choose a new hair color, she picks a similar one to the color she had while living in Edinburgh.

Despite some complications getting to Edinburgh from lower down in England, their thirteenth date starts off well. Wanda settles in for another precious, happy weekend with the man she loves. But the Mind Gem continues to pain Vision, to the confusion of them both, and when they head out for their usual walk Saturday evening, things go south.

This time, the drop of blood that falls is golden, not red.

Two drops of blood tie together the short dating life of Wanda Maximoff and Vision, and in their wake, nothing is left but broken metal and dust.

\---

When he and the other surviving Avengers return to the compound, shocked into a weary silence full of unspoken heaviness, James Rhodes finds the letter that Vision left for him and Tony Stark, sitting unnoticed on the kitchen table. Hands trembling, he opens it and reads Vision’s explanation of his decision to finally, _this_ year, move out of the compound and on to a new life. The letter, though ridden with apology, is also bursting with hope for the future.

James Rhodes sits down at the kitchen table and, for the first time since half the world disappeared into nothingness, cries.

**Author's Note:**

> Ugh, I _know_. Hopefully, the fourth Avengers movie will bring us ScarletVision joy rather than sorrow! If not, I will just imagine Wanda and Vision being happy together in heaven. (Or we could always retreat to the eternal sanctuary of fanfic, haha.)
> 
> Thank you, always, for your comments and kudos!


End file.
